This invention relates to a heart support for coronary artery surgery.
Bypass operations on the circumflex artery system are especially difficult because of the inaccessability of the field of operation on the posterior side of the heart. The conventional procedure is to have an assistant lift and rotate the heart about the axis of the inferior vena cava and the superior pulmonary veins. This is not only cumbersome but extremely tiring for both the assistant and the surgeon. The assistant does not have a view of the field of the operation and it is difficult to keep the heart in a steady position.
A fishnet support of rectangular outline has heretofore been proposed, but this is found to be unsatisfactory. The strands of a fishnet are extremely fine and inelastic causing them to impinge on the coronary arteries so as to stop all coronary circulation and possibly cause some additional myocardial damage.
Objects of the present invention are, therefor, to provide an improved heart support for coronary artery surgery, to provide a heart support which does not constrict the coronary circulation or cause other myocardial damage, and to provide a heart support constructed of cloth tapes of substantial width which are soft and stretchable to conform to the shape of the heart.